Home Depot Project

Saturday morning, Camden and I headed to Home Depot for their "first Saturday of the month" project day.  It was a rainy morning and the place was packed...turned out it was also because of the cool project...a Home Depot race car.  Several local boy scout troops were there.

I've heard that toddler's aren't suppose to do lots of "craft" projects because it's not developmentally beneficial.  These projects just don't confirm that.  Camden loves doing it. 

And she does most of it.  She hammers.

She glues.  Although our top came off the first bottle and went everywhere.  I had to help a tad with the remaining glue portions.

I also had to help put the stickers in the right spaces (I guess I limited her creativity).  But the end result was very pleasing to her.

The bonus was the soap box derby set-up.  Camden loved racing the other kids.  She was most fond of taking her car to the guy who lined them all up (and he was a little partial to her as well...giving her prime slots and showing her where her car was among all the boys).

She then "drove" around the store a bit and showed off her new pin.

This is one of my favorite outings with her.  I can't wait for a Saturday when Kevin gets to come with us!



Hali's First Birthday

Amanda hosted a fun party for Hali's first birthday.  GaGa and Grandpa rode with us to Rockville on Friday night for the event.  

Camden wasn't sure what to think about someone else getting all the attention.  I love the look on her face...

Hali did a pretty good job opening presents.  Although, like any 1 year old, was most interested in playing than looking at all the cute clothes she received.

Then it was time for cake.  Camden offered to help Hali, because the birthday girl wasn't sure what to make of the cake.  At one point, Camden went up and stuck her finger in and took a swipe of frosting in an effort to show Hali what to do.

My favorite picture of the night!

Camden thought that it was a yummy cake; but wasn't too sure about the birthday hat!

Happy birthday Haliana!  We had such a fun time celebrating you!

First Evening Stroll

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss

Crawfordsville Public Library had a special program last night to honor the birthday of Dr. Seuss.  Some guy came in and talked about the good doctor's life and read some of his books.  I thought it would be a good thing for Camden and I to try.  Hmmmm...

Camden found a seat and enjoyed the first 10 minutes of the wait/show.  She attentively watched and listened.  She even clapped and raised her hands up and down as directed, right along with all the other kids and parents.

But then it quickly went down hill.  The guy was a little too long, with a little too much filler. It wasn't very engaging to a 2 1/2 year old.  The older kids in the audience did okay, but even I was a little restless and wanted him to get to the stories.

Camden tried the floor, but didn't venture too far from me.

Then she moved her chair up a little bit.  That lasted but a few minutes.  She had to potty.  She had to stand.  She had to crawl under my seat.  We stood in the back for a while.

She took a picture from her perspective.

After about 25 minutes, she grabbed my face in both hands and said, "Mommy, let's go."  She'd had enough.  We went upstairs, played with the toys and picked out new books for the week.  Too bad we didn't last long enough for the free Dr. Seuss book.  Maybe next time...



Storytime with Camden

I have previously mentioned how well Camden is doing at "reading" books.  She turns the page, looks at the picture, and tells you what is happening in the story.  It's such fun to hear.  One of her favorite books is the photo book I made from our trip to Colorado this summer. 



She wasn't quite on point with storytelling in this video, since she always seems to clam up a bit when the camera is turned on her.  Once she warms up, however, it has some shining moments that show her personality.

Daddy's Gun Safe

Kevin picked up his new gun safe this week and we got it unloaded into the garage (it's gonna take a few extra hands to get it into the house).  After a little struggle getting access into it (long story about "not quite with it" sales people at Big R), we opened it up on Saturday night.  Camden had fun watching Daddy.

She had even more fun playing in the big box the safe came in!

The picture below is probably one of my favorites of her in the last little while.  I'm going to get it printed and hung next to my desk (with my other favorites over the years) because the web just doesn't do it justice.  The boots are one of my favorite parts of all of these pictures...they were next to the door and the first thing we grabbed...but it's classic!

Kevin's favorite part of the evening (besides getting into the safe) was making this video.  All day on Sunday he'd turn to me at random times and say, "Ta-da" and we'd both laugh.  She is such a joy!

Saturday at the "Museum"

Saturday morning before the big party, Camden and I went to town to pick out some new books at the library.  She kept getting confused and called it, "The Museum." Camden loves playing with all the toys in the kids section.  She found a big bear and wanted to read him a book.  So she found the right selection, sat the bear at the table, pulled up her own seat, and read him a story.



She is really getting good at "reading" stories to others.  She looks at the pictures and tells what's going on.  Every story (and sometimes every page) begins with, "Once upon a time...."

There were puppet shows to put on (although Camden used it more like a kitchen counter) and train sets to take apart and put together.

She's can spend so much time moving things from one container to another.  She does it at home all the time and did it with the toys at the library too. 

Finally, we spent a few minutes at the computer station.  Mostly so that Camden could put on the "silencers."  Not sure where she heard that before or even where she has seen them, but she knew what they were and how they were used.